USH'S MATRIX GAME 2006 SECOND ASSIGNMENT- 'The Monastery'

Cool.

Nifty character background, there.

...

Heph hands the Key to the Oracle.

She looks at it, very carefully, almost as if trying to read it.

"Uh-hm. Hmmm. Ahh yes. Oh my. Well, this is definitely it, I am afraid. There was just a small chance it was not the real thing, not that that would make much difference to you."

"So you recognize it?"

"Oh yes, very much so. I've seen it before, not for a long time though. It's not really meant to be seen.

"You may remember the door to Melitus' realm in the factory? That wass a door which did not work like doors normally do. You could not break it down, bypass it, pick the lock. You needed the key. See, most of the Matrix works like the physical world it simulates. But at its base, it's a computer system., It doesn't have to work like that. A door on one side of a wall only connects to the other side because it is programmed thay way by default. That could be changed.

"So most keys are code analogues of real world keys, They just interact, physically, with the simulation of the locking mechanism. But some keys are the representation of something more than that. They go through 'special' doors, doors that otherwise don't work like doors. This is one of those."

"Are you just taking hours to say it unlocks something?" says Dallas. "I can get Ariadne to tell me THAT."

"Smart girl, that one."

"You've not even met her! She's not even from the Matrix!"

"Doesn't stop her being smart," says the Oracle, reasonably. "You're lucky to have her. You're right, though, In any important way, this is still a key. It unlocks a lock. And if you can;t unlock a lock, you might try to find ways around it. If you know how to create the right programme, you might be able to create the code equivlent of a lock pick. or duplicate the key. But some keys cannot be copied, or bypassed. Again, this is one of those.

"There is just one programme in the Matrix who could make a new version of this key. And it so happens that programme works for the people you saw trading this. That's why I thought this might not be real. Maybe the leader of those people- a powerful and dangerous programme, but not one you need to worry about- had it copied and kept it. But he hasn't, this is the original. That says a lot about what he wants. He doesn't want the key."

She sighs.

"But a lot of other people do. You saw what was going on there. Some were willing to trade for it. Some were willing to kill for it. Everyone wanted it. And they still want it, and they won't stop. Won't stop until they have killed you and taken it for themselves."

Heph will no doubt be receiving glares from the people who thought him a bit looney for grabbing the Key, and does his best to ignore them.

"Yeah...we kinda figured as much," Heph replies. "But what is it for? What does it 'unlock,' so to speak. It must be very important, from the way you put it."

"It's for unlocking a door," says the Oracle.

"Oh I KNEW that was going to be what you said..." says Dallas.

"And this door is where, exactly?"

"Nowhere close," says the Oracle. "Tell me, Hephaestus... why do you want to know?"

"I'm...not entirely sure," Heph says. "Our mission is to find as much information as we can about the Exiles. Perhaps this Key can lead to further information and understanding?

"Plus, you've made it seem rather important, as did all those peop...Exiles in the Musuem."

"Well, why does it matter to you if this is important or not? What is this all leading to, Hephaestus?"

"He doesn't know!" Ares calls out from the seat beside Burn as he pops a piece of pineapple and ham in his mouth.

"I want to find out what it is for because we're exploring territory formerly unknown to Zion. I feel that this Key will help."

"Help you how?"

Heph keeps his cool. He never could when the Oracle got technical.

"Well, it's tied in with the Exiles. Unless they're really all that bloodthirsty, perhaps the information could be bartered for."

"Well now, they wouldn't be so desperate for the key if they didn't know where the door was. The only thing valuable to them is the key itself, and for that they will simply kill you. They have a poor opinion of Humans."

"Then that pretty much unravels my view of it being useful, doesn't it? So, what should we do with it, just hand it over to them? Throw it in a trash can?"

"Well, what makes you so sure it is not useful?"

"Well, what makes me so sure that it IS useful? Currently, nothing to both."

"I'm willing to bet you want to find out. After all," she says, picking up a small cake, "all the others do."